Countdown to Camp is a series breaking down the Rams roster by position group heading into training camp. The eighth installment examines running back.
In explaining his preliminary vision for the Rams' offense in 2025, head coach Sean McVay – unprompted – brought up the evolution of the 2024 Buccaneers offense guided by former Rams assistant Liam Coen, particularly the way they ran the football and incorporated rookie running back Bucky Irving.
Irving averaged 6.5 yards per carry and his explosive run rate (10-plus yards) was 19% at Oregon in 2023, according to research conducted by Rams staff writer Wyatt Miller via Pro Football Focus.
Current Rams rookie running back Jarquez Hunter had the same yards per carry average but a higher explosive run rate at 22.5% for Auburn in 2024.
Furthermore, PFF says that 48.0% of Hunter's yards last year came on breakaway runs (15-plus yards), while 38.8% of Irving's yards in 2023 came on breakaway runs.
"His superpower is his speed, he's really fast," running backs coach Ron Gould told theRams.com this summer. "And then the second thing is, if you get the pads on you, he's a heavier guy, he's a guy who can go north and south, and he's a guy who's gonna be able to come out of a lot of tackles."
The two players had different evaluations, not to mention sizes and frames, coming out of college – Irving 5-foot-9 and 192 pounds, Hunter 5-9 and 204, so these advanced stats are not the end-all, be-all comparison suggesting they're the same player. But it gives you an idea of how Hunter could fit into McVay's vision for the offense this year, once he becomes more comfortable in Los Angeles' offense.
"He's impressed me (with) his attention to detail," Gould said regarding Hunter. "And he's a young man that's very focused on making sure he's doing exactly what we need him to do in order for him to take that next step. And then I was just very surprised at how quickly he picked up everything."
It's worth noting, again, that McVay said at the end of minicamp that all of the rookies will have a chance to contribute, but those roles will have to be earned.
And, that's not to say Hunter is the only player capable of breakaway runs.
Running backs coach Ron Gould told theRams.com this summer that Kyren Williams' explosiveness was the first thing that stood out to the coaches.
"One of the things (I noticed) was just his ability to stay grounded through some of his runs that was really, really evident in the work that he's put in, so really, really pleased with that," Gould said.
Likewise, Blake Corum "has gotten his speed back, so his explosiveness has come back," Gould said, "And then his ability to come out of cuts, which is something that we saw in the junior year and part of his senior year (at Michigan)."
